Two of the film directors currently screening films at the St. Louis International Film Festival have closer ties than most to St. Louis. Peter Bolte and Brian Jun both grew up in the St. Louis region. Both are graduates of Webster University, and both shot their films on location in St. Louis and Southern Illinois.

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A discussion with two St. Louis area natives about the screenings of their films at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Bolte’s “All Roads Lead” is about filmmakers from New York who come to a fictitious small town in Illinois to tell the story of the death of two young girls. Shot in documentary-style and comprised mostly of interviews, the film is a “narrative fictional film that uses documentary techniques to tell my story,” Bolte says. Fictional as it may be, the initial inspiration for the film came from a very real car fire Bolte happened upon in New York in 2005. “I heard commotion outside, grabbed my mini DV recorder and just started shooting it,” Bolte says. The footage is used in the film, with a suspenseful story written around it.

With the film, Bolte says he wanted to create an ambiguity that hinted a possibility that one or two of the film’s characters may have something to do with the girls’ death. Calling his film “a documentary within a documentary,” he leaves it to the New York film crew to reveal the facts and let the audience decide for themselves.

Trailer of "All Roads Lead"

Brian Jun’s “She Loves Me Not” is about a reclusive novelist struggling to find romance while trying to make a comeback. The main character, Rex Stevens, is a womanizing lush “living on the fumes of fame,” Jun says. Jun wrote the screenplay and co-directed the film along with William ‘Jack’ Sanderson. The film is told in three vignettes, following Rex’s journey as he searches for love.

The film even features some prominent Hollywood names, including Oscar-nominated Karen Black. “She Loves Me Not” was one of the actress’s last roles before her death earlier this year.

Trailer of "She Love Me Not"

Both directors say they utilized their connections to the area in their filmmaking. “I’m a big proponent of Midwest filmmaking,” says Jun. “I love to find Midwest actors.” Bolte says of St. Louis, “There’s just something about the city and the surrounding areas that I find accessible, personally, and visually I find it fascinating.”

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